Cognitive Development in Children - Essay Example

? A Case Study in Child Development. Child development entails the emotional, physiological, and biological changes that characterize humans from the time of birth up to adolescence. For a society, it is vital for a child’s optimal development to be realized. For the realization of an optimal development, the cognitive, social, emotional, and language development of children needs to be well understood. There was the need to establish an in-depth understanding towards the development of a child cutting across cognitive, emotional, social and language development. This paper explores a case study of Kevin’s development explaining the areas where Kevin achieves the developmental steps every day. This case study will refer to Kevin as the main subject of the paper in order to maintain confidentiality. Kevin is 9 months years old and resides with his mother and father, in their home, in the country. He was born in UK. His father is an African where as his mother is an Arab. Kevin’s parents have full time employment. They not only speak English as a second language but also French and Arabic. Kevin lives with his parents, two older brothers of ages eight and six years old, and a sister who is nine years old. They also have neighbors who do not speak English as their first language. Kevin has toys that he likes to play with them. He also likes to eat biscuits. Kevin does not like a separation from the mother and finds it difficult to adjust to his mother’s attempts to live him in the kitchen alone. In this study, Kevin’s observation shall take place in their quiet home environment. This observation would be carried out in different stages. First, Kevin shall be observed with his mother in the kitchen. The second observation will be done in the presence of Kevin’s brothers and sister. Cognitive development. According to the cognitive development observation (Appendix A) Kevin could be able to repeat actions intentionally so as to trigger environmental responses. For instance, Kevin moved his legs and smiled when his mother showed him his milk bottle. In this case, Kevin was confidence to identify his milk bottle. In this case, Kevin demonstrated figurative intelligence by perceiving his milk bottle. Figurative intelligence involves a static intelligence aspect which involves the representations that are used to retain the state of mind. Like for the case of Kevin, figurative intelligence involved the mental imagery, and perception of the milk bottle. When his mother shows him his milk bottle a mental picture is created in his mind thus making him perceive the milk bottle. When he identifies the shape of his milk bottle and smiles he shows that he obtained intervened transformation in his mind. Piaget (2001, p .7) points out that the figurative intelligence aspects obtain their meaning from the operative intelligence aspects. Operative intelligence in this case involves covert or overt actions that are undertaken so as to anticipate objects transformation for the interest of a child. In addition to this, Kevin identification of his milk bottle was a representative aspect of intelligence development. This was also a clear indication of assimilation of new ideas. Piaget (2001, p.8) argues out that assimilation occurs in children when they come across unfamiliar ideas and refers to the information learnt previously so as to make sense out of it. When Kevin saw his milk bottle, he remembered using it some other time hence making sense of it. To recognize the milk bottle, Kevin focused on the objects contours, recognize the size of the object, thus developing mental schema of the milk bottle thus operative intelligence. This was evidenced when he looked at the milk bottle and smiled, showing out that he had gained enough object performance, and, therefore, reaction coordination. This was also an indication of a construction of knowledge that is new without the knowledge being poured into a child's head. During observation, when Kevin realized that his bottle was missing, his face changed, he started looking for it and pulled his mum clothes. Kevin confidently searched for his milk bottle when it was taken away from him as a way of solving a problem. In this case, Kevin demonstrated a development of the intentional means-end action sequences which he was using to solve problems like pulling his mother’s cloth. Skinner (1970, p.4) points out that a behavior like this one, depicts the development of intentional means-end action sequence and using them to solve basic problems in infants. In solving this problem, Kevin had to match the missing bottle with his mother. In solving this problem, Kevin had to match the missing bottle with his mother. He was, therefore, able to solve this problem by searching his mother’s cloth. Children master the symbolic artefacts by identifying that specific entities need to be interpreted and then responded to primarily In terms of what they do stand for. Such symbols stand for their referents; therefore, the representation of a problem does not suggest its representation (Bandura, 1996, p.7). Problematic situations will always posses a reality that is dual. This means that when Kevin was working out the problem of his missing bottle, he mentally represented the problem in its relation to the symbol. This enabled him to think about the concrete, symbolic features, its abstract relation, and the interpretation that refers to it. Kevin’s limited information capacity could make it difficult for him to maintain the mental representation active at all time. This was very demanding since his bottle had been hidden from him. Kevin was to process multiple set of data, make sense out of it, and give it a specific response. A theory advance in memory cognition states that children is not expected to think about many new ideas at once, since their memory storage is limited in both sensory and memory. The main method, therefore, that expert learners use to manage their little capacity is by focusing their attention selectively on pertinent information and taking part in automated processing. For Kevin’s case, maybe since he did not have prior knowledge of connecting his missing bottle with the mother, he failed to retrieve that knowledge thus concentrated in searching his mother’s clothes. In another observation (Appendix A), Kevin brothers and sisters called him by his name, which he recognized, straight away, they gave him a pen, and he stopped to cry and placed it spontaneously in his mouth. After that, he continued to analyze the pen, which was kept in the right hand and transferred it, into his other hand. Kevin understood concepts and objects around him and how they can be used. In this case, Kevin demonstrated a development of a vivid sensory ability, he was confident to hold the pen in his hand According to a social learning theory, Kevin learnt to hold the pen in his hands from his brothers through observation and imitation (Bandura, 1996, p.8). Kevin had developed sensory ability due to the coordination between prehension and vision. This showed out a manifestation of intelligence through touch and vision coordination. When he puts the pen on the mouth, he demonstrates the development of the touch-hand-eye coordination thus development of the logic coordination. Kevin had, therefore, developed the knowledge about the world, and he could be able to make use of his ability and the children utility skills that a child was born with like sucking, looking, listening, and grasping (Berk, 2005, p.7). Kevin displayed a development of the real, authentic and whole concepts of learning that imply that he had developed the isolated skills. At nine months, therefore, Kevin was still in the sensorimotor stage. From the observation, Kevin was cognitively developing well and appeared to be on a way of accomplishing the cognitive milestones for the sensorimotor stage. Emotional and social development. Kevin has gone through the development of a unique personality that makes interaction with him to be immensely entertaining. Kevin was exceptionally fast to show an observer his sadness, happiness, frightfulness, or confusion. For example, during observation (Appendix B), Kevin cried when his mother put her coat on so as to take out the dustbin. Kevin cried because he imagined that his mother was not going to come back. Kevin demonstrated the development of attachment relationships. Research has shown out that an infant would always maintain proximity towards a preferred person by means of signals and locomotion such as crying. Skinner (1970, p.5) argues out that bonds formed by infants towards their caregivers always have a long lasting impact in a child’s life. In addition to this, an attachment will keep a child close to his mother thus bettering his survival chances. This means that Kevin knew his mother a dependable person which created a secured basis for him in exploring the world. In this case, Kevin demonstrated a secure attachment to his mother since he felt distress when he imagined that he was going to be separated from his mother. In the observations (Appendix B), Kevin cried because his mother had left him alone and when his mother came back, he stopped crying, then, gave her a long portly smile. Kevin gave his mother a smile to demonstrate his attachment to her. In this case, Kevin demonstrated a close bonding with his mother. When his mother came back, he was happy and felt secure due to her presence. This was due to his established secure attachment towards his mother. He, therefore, cried whenever she left him on his own. Infants below the age of 14 months always have a negative reaction when they are separated from their mothers (Buchward, 2003, p.10). Such children would always have a feeling of rejection and the distress will be higher during a period that his mother leaves him. According to a study advanced in this stage, an infant would develop fear that is referred to as the separation protest, when he is separated from his mother (Skinner, 1970, p.9). Though this fear may come to its peak at about an age of fifteen years, Kevin has already developed it at the age of nine months. There are four classifications of attachment. These include: Ambivalent attachment, secure attachment, disorganized attachment, and avoidant attachment (Buchward, 2003, p.11). For instance, Kevin’s attachment could be referred to as ambivalent attachment. Kevin did demonstrate self distress and his mother necessity. This is supported by a theory that argues out that children with ambivalent attachment have a tendency of crying when they are moved away from their mothers or caregivers (Vygotsky, 2004, p.20). Apart from this, Kevin also played with the toys while sitting on the carpet. In this case Kevin confidently played with his toys. Kevin demonstrates a proper self esteem through playing. He is the confidence to play with his toys since he had a self concept in playing with toys. This could be due to a robust and secure relationship with his mother (Skinner, 1970, p.5). Children who are secure would always have an internal positive working model of relationship and trusts the positive outcomes of adults. Feldman (2004, p.6) points out that…. “when a child has a secure attachment he forms an internal working model of the mother as being loving, available, and develops consequently a complementary model of being worthy of that love”. During observation, Kevin gave out a shy smile to the observer when he was called. He demonstrated a fear for strangers, when he was greeted by the observer. When Kevin smiles shyly he demonstrates an emotional growth due to the expansion of his environment. This may be due to shame or the act of fearing strangers that is brought about by his family being a center for his development. In this respect, Carison (2008, p.17) explained that when a child smiled he showed a sensation feeling of a state that is pleasant that may be related to the concept of happiness. Kevin used the smile to communicate his inner feeling. In this case, a smile was an emotional demonstration. Despite this, he did not cry showing out that he had encountered strangers possibly from the nursery. A research made on attachment at this age reported out that more sociable infants are less worried when they come across strangers (Gober, 2002, p.8). At the age of nine months, infants normally display some fear for strangers. Therefore, from the observations that were made, Kevin showed out proper social and emotional development as per children of his age. In order to maintain a healthy adulthood life, attachment basis needs to be strong during childhood (Vygotsky, 2004, p.27). Language development. Just like the cognitive, emotional, and social development, Kevin’s language development was similar to that of a child of his age. During the observation (Appendix C), Kevin spontaneously recognized his father and started to say out loud . Kevin displayed the first signs of a speech that is patterned. This demonstrated that Kevin was at a later pre-linguistic stage which normally the onset of pure speech. Kevin could use language to fulfill his needs. Though he uttered one word like ‘dada’ the adults, for instance, his parents could interpret its meaning. A single word is highly distinctive phonetically, in terms of its meaning and in a manner of use. With such a single word, Kevin could be able to convey an idea that could normally be expressed by adults in full sentences. Semantically, Kevin understood whatever was said to him. When he says ‘dada’ for daddy, it means that he is in the process of developing first words since both babbling and first words start with a stop and ends with vowels. This language use showed that he was in a one-word utterance stage. With such a single word, Kevin could be able to convey an idea that could normally be expressed by adults in full sentences. In this case, Kevin’s single words are referred to as holophrastic speech (Vygotsky, 2004, p. 28). This is so because; a child at the age of nine months could be able to express ideas that are complex by using the single-word utterances. However, these single words have rich interpretations. Parents will always attempt guessing the correct interpretation through paying attention to the utterances. Therefore, speech and action would be integrated. A theory advanced in one word utterance states that for one to understand the language of a baby, one has to concentrate on what the baby is doing (Vygotsky, 2004, p.28). This theory analyzes the utterance of one word as a type of proposition hence considered as a full sentence conceptually. Piaget (2001, p.15) identifies these words as far from singular classes and represents action schemas that are complex. Another theory confirms that words normally function as sentences since the words that are omitted are normally expressed by the child through gestures, intonations, and actions (Smith, 2005, p. 13). At the age of 9 months, Kevin was still at the pre-linguistic babbling stage. Another theory on language development argues that the acquisition of speech is in a hierarchical order with the first distinction as consonants like ‘ma’ and ‘pa’ (Feldman, 2004, p.7). This theory also explains that, at 9 months, a child should be able to subdivide words as per their distinctive characteristics. According to this theory Kevin had, gone though, this development successfully since he could identify some sounds. Following the development process of a nine month child, Kevin was able to perform things that a child of his age needed to do on his own. Despite the fact that he was a multilingual child, he progressed well phonologically without any problem. He showed out excellent, emotional and language skills thus cognitive skills development. References. Bandura, A. (1996) Social learning theory. W.H. Freeman press. New York. USA. [i.p. 5-10] Berk, K. (2005) Characteristics of sensory- motor stage. Harvard University press. Cambridge MA. USA. [i.p 2-9 & 12] Buchward, M. (2003) Cognitive and emotional development. Norton publishing . New York. USA. [i.p. 5-11] Carison, P. (2008) Phonological development. Pearson Education publishers. New Jersey. USA. [i.p. 15- 20] Feldman, S. (2004) Development of a child. Pearson publishers. New Jersey. USA. [i.p. 3-7] Gober, Y. (2002) Assessing the development of infants: Delmar press. New York.USA. [i.p. 4-10] Piaget, J. (2001) Reflecting Abstraction studies. Psychology Press. Hove, UK. [i.p. 6-18] Skinner, B. (1970) Beyond dignity and freedom. Vintage books. New York. USA. [i.p. 2-8] Smith, K. (2005) Kohlberg’s Moral Development Theory. Blackwell Press. Oxford. UK. [i.p. 7-14] Vygotsky, S. (2004) The psychology of a child. Plenium Press. New York. USA. [i.p. 22-30] APPENDIX A Cognitive observations. As soon as I started my observation Kevin was smiling at me and he seemed beaming.  Kevin was sitting in his baby chair. Even though Kevin is a baby, I still explained to him that I am going to observe him Kevin contemplated me then suddenly turned and start looking at his mother who was cooking. This supports the Skinner (1996, p.3) evidences that an introspective observation is rather not a nonphysical consciousness mental world but a child’s own body feeling. Skinner (1996, p. 7) argues that anything observed by a child or felt is a cause of a behavior. Therefore, a child will behave in a certain manner because of the current structure. After a while, his mother told me that Kevin had to drink his bottle of milk. It is very interesting to see that since his mother showed Kevin his bottle of milk, he started to move his legs and smiles. He seems extremely happy and he began to grab his bottle very tightly. Then, I asked his mother to hide his bottle because it was an occasion that I could not miss. When Kevin realized that his bottle has disappeared, his face changed, he started looking for it and pulled his mum clothes, and he tried to catch it then started to cry.  I took his bottle and showed it to him again, Kevin identified his bottle straight away.  In addition, when his mother put her coat on, in order to put the dustbin out, he started looking at her and he began to weep. His brothers and sisters came towards him and called him by his name which he recognizes. They gave him a pen, then, he stopped to cry and placed it automatically in his mouth. After that, he continued to analyze the pen, which was kept in his right hand and transferred it to the other hand. This is line with a Neo-freudian (1994) who argues out that a child’s development is marked by conflicts where by a successful resolution of the conflict will lead to a good outcome. This philosopher argues out that trust versus mistrust if resolved will result to a good outcome. The conflict in this case was Kevin mistrusting his mother by thinking that she was going to leave him alone. This conflict was, however resolved when Kevin’s mother reflects and carries out her inner trustworthiness thus bringing a personal sense of meaning to Kevin. Few minutes later someone knocked the door all his brothers and Kevin's sister ran toward the door, it was one of the neighbor who needed a cooking ingredient. At this moment Kevin’s mum went to the kitchen and immediately Kevin started to cry again, so I held him but he   didn’t stop crying until his mum came back. She gave him an affectionate kiss and positioned him correctly. She fed Kevin and he started to smile to his mother in response of that.  APPENDIX B Social and Emotional observations. I was standing in front of child A’s door house when I heard him crying from his house. I knocked the door. Child A was crying because his mother left him alone. Once his mother came back in the kitchen he immediately stopped crying. She said to him with a lovely soft voice “Mum is here now, stop crying my chick “She was also smiling at him therefore Child A gave her a long big smile back. Child A moved his legs and arms and tried to grab his mother who was near him. This behavior supports the argument in Bronfenbrenner’s theory that all the layers of the environment would have an effect to a child and his development. In this case the interaction of factors like a child’s biology, community environment, immediate family and societal landscape would precipitate a child development. Kevin’s mother in this case was a factor that brings attachment to Kevin through their interaction. I said to him “hello Kevin, how are you?” He responded to me with some shy smiles but not the same as he gave his mother before .When I went towards him he immediately quickly crawled in the direction on his mother and stayed hidden behind her. According to the Bronfenbrenner’s theory of ecology, a child would develop when his interaction into the environment becomes complex (Feldman, 2004, p.5). In this case Kevin crawls because he has gained objects performance. It also shows the onset of Kevin’s cognitive and physical maturity and growth thus the effect of ‘nurture’. Child A did not cry at all and his expression did not change. He seemed calm and at ease. APPENDIX C Language Development observations. Kevin was playing with his toys on the carpet when his siblings came back from the school with their father and one of their neighbors who he is also in the same school. Kevin spontaneously recognized his father and started to say out loud . At this point Kevin’s father understood that Kevin was calling him. Then Kevin’s neighbor who does not have English as his first language ran toward him saying < Kevin! Kevin! > He said in French < CA VA Kevin! Coucou! > Kevin responded to him with some babbling and rippling. After a while Kevin’s mother put some biscuits on the table. Kevin crawled towards the table, tried to grab one of the biscuits then his father said to him . Afterwards, Kevin looked at him carefully, smiled and began to say < da da mumm da > Kevin pulled on his father’s trousers, sat down, raised his head up and pointed his hand in the direction of the cookies and shouted < Hu Hu >. Consequently, his father clearly understood Kevin’s language and shared one of them with him. Kevin has shown a desire to obtain some cookies using body language. Read More